ICAO Regional Planning Groups are responsible for the establishment of Regional Monitoring Agencies in areas that have implemented Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM); that is the reduction in vertical separation between FL 290 and FL 410 from 2,000 ft to 1,000 ft.

The EUR RMA was established in 2003 by EUROCONTROL on behalf of the ICAO European Air Navigation Planning Group. The region of responsibility includes that portion of continental airspace which introduced RVSM as part of the EUR RVSM implementation programme on 24 January 2002.

Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM)

A program was initiated by ICAO in 1982 involving worldwide studies to assess the feasibility of a reduction of the Vertical Separation Minima (VSM) above FL290 from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet.

The principal benefits which the implementation of the Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) were expected to provide were:

A theoretical doubling of the airspace capacity, between FL290 and FL410 and

The opportunity for aircraft to operate at closer to the optimum flight levels with the resulting fuel economies.

The implementation of RVSM relies on the carriage and serviceability of specified aircraft equipment and the existance of appropriate operating procedures to ensure that the risk of loss of separation is no greater than it would be outside RVSM airspace. The requirements for RVSM are comprehensively detailed in ICAO, EASA and regional documents.

Aircraft Height-Keeping Performance

Avionic anomalies can introduce errors in the indications of flight level that are presented to aircrew and air traffic controllers. Therefore the EUR RMA established different Height Monitoring Systems, to estimate the Altimeter System Error (ASE) for aircraft. The estimation of ASE is particularly important as this error is invisible to pilots, ground controllers and other aircraft systems including TCAS.

The long term monitoring by the EUR RMA allows the analysis of the aircraft height-keeping performance and trend analysis for aircraft types over time.

To find out more about the ASE, its potential causes and the importance of identifying aircraft that are exhibiting ASE, visit Skybrary.

Safety Assessments

The EUR RMA conducts an annual RVSM airspace safety assessment as required by the European Air Navigation Planning Group (EANPG).